New Zealand’s Got Talent,
and How!
It
is often said that in sport New Zealand punches above its weight. Think rowing,
cycling, World Cup cricket, not to mention rugby. That this small country also
punches well above its weight in medical research, IT innovation and classical
music is not so frequently proclaimed.
Those
who attended the chamber music concert by the Mimosa Ensemble last Sunday
afternoon in the Graham Young Youth Theatre were treated to a truly outstanding
demonstration of New Zealand musical talent punching well above its weight.
The
four young musicians, all barely out of their teens, have already won numerous
prizes and scholarships. They more than hold their own with their European and
UK contemporaries.
The
Fabulous Four, Somi Kim, piano, Hugh Roberts, flute, Thomas Hutchinson, oboe,
and Todd Gibson-Cornish, bassoon, are already fully-fledged virtuosi. They all
possess outstanding instrumental techniques, wonderful ranges of tone colours
and the rare ability to make genuinely difficult music sound easy. Moreover
they are all good to look at, and play with a truly infectious enthusiasm.
All
serious young Bay of Plenty musicians should have been compelled to attend, if
only to discover what is possible.
The
programme comprised largely unfamiliar music, Bizet and Rachmaninov being the
only well-known names. Dutilleux, and Poulenc from twentieth century France,
Genzmer from twentieth century Germany, and two New Zealand composers, Philip
Norman and Salina Fisher, completed the composers’ list.
Fittingly,
New Zealand composers bookended the programme. First up was the delightfully
imaginative Birthday Music for solo flute by Philip Norman, and the concert
concluded with the lovely dream-like reflective Unfinished Portrait by Salina
Fisher. Here all four musicians contributed gentle subtle evocative tone
colours, which shimmered and constantly changed.
In
between, the audience was treated to an endless display of dazzling brilliance,
but never for its own sake, nor at the expense of the music. The sheer vitality
and exuberance of youth blazed gloriously in fast movements, which allowed for
wonderful contrasts in the quieter movements. Mimosa is truly a group of
equals. Collectively and individually they deserve the highest praise for the
quality of their music-making.
Full
marks to the Tauranga Chamber Music Society for selecting this programme.
Aucklanders were not so fortunate.
Gordon
Skinner
(Formerly
Principal Bassoon, NZSO)